Oct. 25 (CNA) Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan has been named as the fifth best city in the world to visit in 2018 by travel guide book publisher Lonely Planet.

Kaohsiung was among Lonely Planet's list of 10 top cities in the world that its experts recommend travelers visit in 2018.

The list was published Tuesday as part of Lonely Planet's Best in Travel 2018 package that also identified the world's 10 top countries and 10 top regions to visit and 10 best travel values.

In the "Top Cities" list, Spain's Seville was ranked at the top, followed by Detroit in the United States, Canberra in Australia, and Hamburg in Germany.

From sixth to 10th were Antwerp in Belgium, Matera in Italy, San Juan in Puerto Rico, Guanajuato in Mexico and Oslo in Norway.

"Kaohsiung is surging with possibilities: visit before the world gets wind of it," Lonely Planet said in the description of the city accompanying the list that particularly highlighted the city's transition from an industrial port to a cultural hub.

"Warehouses by the harbor are morphing into galleries and theaters. World-class architecture is sprouting along the shore, from a beautiful public library to a spectacular concert venue that, when ready, should be among the best in Asia," Lonely Planet wrote.

"The cultural calendar is packed full of exciting new festivals, and young chefs are injecting fresh ideas into southern Taiwanese cooking," it said.

Other Kaohsiung highlights mentioned were the "spectacular" cruise terminal and light-rail system that are taking shape, and a new 88-meter "Eye of the Mountain" skywalk in the Xiaogangshan Recreation Area, from which hikers can view the Taiwan Strait.

In a statement previewing the article, Lonely Planet writer Piera Chen, who prepared the section on Kaohsiung, described the city this way: "Wherever you go, whether by metro or the city's burgeoning fleet of public bikes, Kaohsiung greets with a laid-back maritime charm."